Apparatus for packing loose material.



W. A. OORNBROOKS. APPARATUS FDR PACKING LOOSE MATERIAL. APPLICATIONFILED MAR. 9, 1911.

1,013,277. P e an- 2, 1912;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. OORNBROOKS, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAMS. WHITE& COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR PACKING LOOSE MATERIAL.

Application filed March 9, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. CORN- BROOKS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Packing Loose Material, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to mechanism for compressing or condensing loosematerial into compact form for convenience in handling same, and theinvention is designed particularly for the treatment of scrap sheet ironwith the view to reheating and re-rolling the same.

According to my invention the scrap material is fed to a suitablereceptacle or chamber and there subjected to forcible pressure,preferably by repeated blows, whereb the loose pieces of metal will becompresse and baled into a compact and dense form. In this form thematerial may be conveniently handled for heating and subsequentre-rolling into sheets or plates.

In its preferred form my invention consists of the combination with thepacking receptacle or box, of a trunk or feeding chamber leading theretoand into which the material to be packed may be introduced, and apacking plunger movable in the trunk and adapted to act on the materialfed therein and compress the same into a gondensed and compact definiteform in the The invention consists also of a packing box provided with aplurality of compartments and adapted to be adjusted so that either ofthe compartments may be brought into registry with the feeding trunk, tothe end that while the material is being packed into one compartment,the compressed body of material in the other compartment may beconveniently discharged.

The invention consists also in suitable means for holding the packingbox so that its compartments will be in proper registry with the feedingtrunk.

The invention consists further in combining with the means forcontrolling the action of the acking plunger, and with the means foretermining the position of the packing receptacle, a stop devicecontrolled Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

Serial No. 613,473.

The invention consists also in the details of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of amechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is a vertical section from front to rear taken on the line3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the packing box orreceptacle.

Referring to the drawings: 1 represents a suitable column or frameprovided at its base with an anvil or abutment 2 over which is arrangeda vertical guideway 3, a space being left between the anvil and thelower end of the guideway, in which space is arranged a rece tacle orbox 4 provided with a plurality o open-ended compartments 5, 5 the boxbeing movable horizontally on the anvil to cause either of thereceptacles to register with the guideway for the purpose presently tobe described. In the guideway is mounted, so that it may move up anddown freely, a packing plunger 6, the cross-sectional form and size ofthe p unger, guideway and compartments in t e receptacle being the same,so that the plunger will fit snugly in the guideway and may enter thepacking receptacle. Some distance above its lower end the guideway iscut away or interrupted as at 7, thereby producing an opening in whichthe material to be compressed may be introduced and fed into the upperend of the lower portion of the guideway, such lower portion of theguideway constituting in eflect a feeding trunk or chamber 3 leading tothe compartment in the box which for the time being is in registertherewith.

In the operation of the mechanism so far described, the plunger being inan elevated position as indicated in Fig. 1, the material to be comressed is fed into the upper end of the fee ing trunk 3 through theopening 7 and will enter the compartment of the packin box in registerwith the trunk and will pile up in the trunk. The plunger is thenalternately raised and allowed to fall, with the result that thematerial will be sub jected to a series of forcible blows and will bedriven down in the trunk and packed and compressed in a condensed massor body of definite form in the compartment of the receptacle at thelower end of the trunk. When by repeated packing operations thecompartment has become completely filled with the material in condensedform, the box is moved forward to the position shown by dotted lines inFig. 3, thereby bringing the empty compartment 5 in position beneath thetrunk to receive its charge, and carrying the filled compartment 5 toposition in front of the trunk where its contents may be convenientlydischarged. The foregoing filling and packing operations are nowrepeated for the second compartment, and when this has received itspacked charge the box is moved in the opposite direction to its originalposition, thereby bringing the first compartment again beneath thefeeding trunk, and carrying the second filled compartment to position atthe rear of the trunk where its contents may be discharged.

The packing box may be shifted back and forth as described in anysuitable manner, but I prefer to employ for this purpose a vertical drum8 fixed on the lower end of a vertical rotary rod 9 mounted in suitablebearings 10 on the frame, and provided atits upper end with a hand wheel11 for turning it. The drum has wound on it a chain 8* which passesaround a horizontal guide pulley mounted on the frame in front of thetrunk, the end of the chain being con nected with the front of the box.By the rotation of the hand wheel 11 the chain may be wound up on thedrum, and the box drawn forward from the position shown in full lines inFig. 2 to that shown in dotted lines. The box may be returned or movedin the opposite direction by any suitable means, for instance, throughthe medium of a weight 12 suspended from a cord or chain 13 passing overa guide pulley 14 mounted on the frame of the machine atthe rear of thetrunk, the end of the cord being connected with the rear side of thebox.

In order that the packing box may be held in position so as to insurethe proper register of its compartments respectively with the feedingtrunk, I provide a convenient and effective device in the form of ahorizontal latch 15 pivoted between its ends as at 16 to the frame andadapted at its inner end to enga e in either of two notches 18, 18,formed in the side of the box, the relation of the notches to thecompartments be ing such that when the latch is engaged respectivelytherein the correspondin com partlnent will be in exact registry withthe end of the feeding trunk.

In order that the packing box may be held flat and firmly down on theanvil and be prevented from being forced up by the forcible packing ofthe material therein and in this way bind against the lower end of thefeeding trunk, I provide a clamping screw 20 screwed in upper and lowerlugs 21 on the front of the feeding trunk, with the lower end of thescrew in position to bear on the upper side of the box, as clearly shownin Fig. 3. When the box is in the position shown by full lines in Fig.3, with the forward receptacle 5 in register with the trunk, theclamping screw will bear on the forward edge of the box. When, however,the box is shifted forwardly to bring the rear compartment 5 in positionfor filling, the clamping screw will bear on the partition between thetwo compartments.

In the filling operations, the screw will holdthe box down flatly on theanvil and will prevent the material from being forced laterally from thelower end of the compartment and between the box and the anvil, whichaction would raise the box and bind the same against the trunk and thiswould prevent the box from being shifted to its different positions. Bythe use of the screw in thus preventing the box from rising, thematerial may be packed into condensed form in the compartments, andafter being properly packed the screw is released to permit the box tobe changed in position.

The plunger 3 may be operated in any suitable and appro riate manner tosubject the material in t e box to the packing blows. I have shown forthis urpose a form of mechanism well-known in connection with powerhammers and operating to positively raise the plunger to an elevatedposition, and then release the same so that it may by gravity fall andin cooperation with the anvil subject the material to blows. Thismechanism, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises a pair of friction rolls21 and 22 arranged to act on opposite sides of a board or plate 23 fixedto and rising from the upper end of the lunger. These rolls are movableto and rom each other so that when rotated and moved together they willengage the board and feed it to an elevated position, and when separatedfrom each other they will disengage the board so that the plunger may beallowed to fall. The rolls are rotated by intermeshing gears 24receiving motion from constantly operating drive pulleys 25 and 26. Themovements of the rolls to and from each other are controlled b adepending rod 27 operatively connecte at its upper end with one of therolls, and adapted to rest at its lower extremity upon a finger 29projecting inwardly from the lower end of an oscillating shaft 30, theupper end of which is rovided with a handle.31 for oscillating. he endof the finger 29 enga es beneath the lower end of the rod 27 an when, bythe oscillation of the handle 31, the finger is moved laterallyfrom-beneath the same the rod will fall, and

when the handle is oscillated in the opposite direction the finger maybe moved beneath the rod and hold the same elevated. After the rollshave been clamped against the board and rotated to elevate the plunger,the board when the rolls are again separated, is sustained by suitableclamping devices 32, which hold the plunger in an elevated position andare adapted to be released to permit the plunger to fall. These clampsare controlled by means of a foot lever 33 pivoted at its lower end onthe forward end of a lever 34 to the rear end of which is jointed a rod35 pivoted at its upper end to the rear end of an arm 36, fixed at itsforward end to a rock shaft 37. The rock shaft carries an arm- 38 whichis operatively connected with the clamping jaws 32. When the foot lever33 is depressed, by means of the connecting mechanism described, theclampin jaws will be separated and the board will be released and theplunger will fall. On the lelease of the foot lever 34, a weight 40mounted on the lever 34, will act to return the parts to their formerposition and close the clamps. In the operation of the mechanismdescribed, and assuming that the rod 27 is holding the feeding rollsseparated, the operator turns handle 31 of the oscillating rod 30 andmoves the finger 29 from beneath the rod 27. This allows rod 27 to fall,whereupon the rolls will be moved together, and, impinging on the board,their rotation will elevate the same and thereby elevate the plunger.The rise of the plunger will continue until a shoulder 41 thereonengages beneath a lever 42, which action will shift the lever and bysuitable means will act on the rod 27 in such manner that the latterwill be elevated and will cause the rolls to be separated. On theseparation of the rolls the clamps 32 are thrown into action and bindingon the board will hold the same suspended. The foot lever 34 is nowdepressed, which will release the clam s and allow the plunger to fall.It is seen t at by this operation the plunger is positively elevated bythe feed rolls and allowed to fall by gravity, the controlling mechanismbeing operated by the hand and foot and resulting in the alternate riseand fall of the plunger.

In order that there will be no possibility of the operation of theplunger when the receptacles in the packing box are not in properregistry with t e feeding trunk, I provide a stop device controlled Inits action by the latch 15 and operating to obstruct the movement of thefoot lever 34, except when the latch is engaged in one of the notches inthe feeding box. This stop device may be of different forms andconstructions, but in the present instance it consists of a lateralmovable bolt 50 connected by means of an elbow lever 51 and a verticalrod 52 to the outer end of the latch 15, these connections being suchthat when the outer end of the latch is depressed to disengage its innerend from the notches in the box, the bolt will be projected in the pathof the vibrating lever 53 connected with the foot lever, and when soprojected will prevent the foot lever from being depressed andconsequently will prevent the clamp from being opened to release theplunger. It is seen, therefore, that this bolt is only retracted whenthe latch is in engagement with one of the notches in the box, theresult being that the foot lever can only be operated when the latch isso engaged, so that there will be no liability of the descent of theplunger when the receptacles are out of register with the feeding trunk.

In feeding the material into the opening 7 at the upper end of thefeeding trunk, the operator stands on a platform 60 indicated by dottedlines in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my invention in the formwhich I prefer to adopt and which in practice has been found to answerto a satisfactory degree the ends to be attained.

It is manifest that the details of the mechanism may be variouslymodified without departing from the limits of my invention, and it is tobe understood that the invention is not to be limited to any particularform or construction of the parts, except in so far as such limitationsare specified in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the type described, the combination of the framework,a reciproeating plunger mounted therein, a stationary anvil situatedbeneath the lunger, a fixed feeding trunk for guiding tiie plunger inits movements, a packing box su ported by the anvil and provided with ap urality of com artments, and means for moving the box re atively tothe anvil and trunk for bringing any selected one of its compartmentsinto operative relation to the trunk.

2. In a machine of the type described, the combination of an abutment, afeeding trunk arranged thereover, a reciprocating plunger movable in thetrunk, a packin box provided with two compartments, sai box beingreciprocable back and forth along the abutment to bring one or the otherof the compartments into registry with the trunk, the abutment being sorelated to the box that when one compartment is in registry with thetrunk, the other compartment wlll be disposed beyond the effectiveportion of the abutment and may have its contents discharged therefrom,and when the latter compartment is in registry with the trunk, the othercompartment will be disposed to the opposite side of the abutment beyondits effective portion and may have its contents discharged therefrom.

3. In a machine of the type described, the combination of an abutment, afeeding trunk, a packing box between the feeding trunk and abutmentprovided with a compartment adapted to register with the trunk, apacking plunger movable in the trunk, means for determining theregistering position of the compartment With the trunk, means forcontrolling the action of the plunger, and a stop device controlled bythe registry-determining means and cooperating with theplunger-controlling means.

4. In a machine of the type described, the combination of an anvil orabutment, a packing box mounted thereon and provided with an open-endedcompartment to receive the material to be packed, a packing plungermovable in the trunk, and releasable means for holding the packing boxfirmly down on the anvil.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of tWoWitnesses.

WILLIAM A. CORNBROOKS.

YVitnesses:

G. R. RosnoRoUoH, H. G. SEHNEBT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

